


a hand to hold (in the dark)

by kangtv (galacticnik)



Category: Produce 101 (TV), Wanna One (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Bae Jinyoung (minor), Lee Daehwi (minor), M/M, actually this isn't very scary just dumb, because haunted houses are scary, just a lot of screaming, the cube chicks deserve something cute
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-30
Updated: 2017-10-30
Packaged: 2019-01-26 22:28:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,376
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12567592
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/galacticnik/pseuds/kangtv
Summary: Guanlin and Seonho take on a haunted house.(It's a pretty bad idea).





	a hand to hold (in the dark)

**Author's Note:**

> self-edited, so please excuse any mistakes!

This might be a really, _really_ bad idea.

Guanlin stares at the entrance to the school—specifically, the banner reading _WELCOME TO HELL HIGH_ hung above the front doors. Despite being one of the people who slaved over it for the past three lunch periods (he’s particularly proud of the bloody lettering), he finds it unsettling.

He flinches as screams pierce the silence of the moonless night. Beside him, Seonho laughs, but it’s the kind of sound you make when you’re trying to convince yourself not to cry. Guanlin reaches over and pats him on the shoulder. “It’ll be fine,” he says optimistically. “Can’t be that bad inside, can it?”

“‘Course not,” Seonho replies, less enthusiastically. He rubs his hands together before wrapping them around Guanlin’s hand. “It’s a student council event. Probably super lame.”

Guanlin flushes at the contact. Seonho’s palms are clammy, but he finds himself hoping he won't let go. “Right. Bargain brand ghosts and everything.”

“Crappy makeup and bad costumes.”

“Cheap jump scares. Raspberry jam on the walls.”

They both fall quiet. Seonho shuffles closer and presses himself against Guanlin. “Hey, Guanlin?” he says, voice barely above a whisper.

“Yeah?”

“You won't let go of my hand in there, will you?” Seonho sounds so small that Guanlin ruffles his hair with his free hand and gives him what he hopes is a reassuring smile. Truth is, he feels a little nauseous himself. Halloween is his least favorite holiday; too much creepy stuff around, and everyone’s trying to scare the pants off everyone else. But Seonho is relying on him to be an anchor, so Guanlin has to put on a brave face.

Guanlin inhales. “I won't. I promise.”

If Seonho hears the tremble in his voice, he doesn't comment on it.

 

 —

 

They start on the first floor.

It’s pitch black inside. Guanlin can barely see in front of his face. Seonho forces him to go up ahead, gripping the back of his shirt. The two of them move at a miniscule pace; anytime Guanlin tries to lengthen his stride, Seonho pulls him back.

“You know,” Guanlin begins. His voice echoes in the hallway. “The faster we move, the faster we can get out of here.”

Seonho makes a disgruntled noise in the back of his throat and clings on tighter.

For their high school’s Halloween event, the student council transformed the entire building into a haunted house. Each floor is supposed to be filled with different kinds of horrors. Daehwi explained them as _easy_ level for the first floor, _medium_ for the second floor, and _hard_ for the third floor. The roof is supposed to be the boss level. “And totally optional,” Daehwi added. “I don't think you want to go up there.” Guanlin agreed.

Each couple gets 30 minutes in the building. The goal is to find all three scraps of the school’s flag within the allotted time for a prize. Guanlin wasn't listening to all the rules, but the prize apparently has something to do with meat.

The thing is, Seonho loves meat and hates scary stuff. The same can be said for Guanlin, but he knows his limits. Seonho, on the other hand, insists that they have to make an attempt to clear the haunted house because he! wants! free! meat! Guanlin would say, _sure, good luck with that,_ but at some point he became Seonho’s best friend and the title has obligations attached to it, like accompanying Seonho on whatever stupid, reckless journey he wants to go on.

And Seonho called it a date, so. Haunted house it is.

“It's fine if you're scared,” Guanlin continues. He feels blind; he's just walking into nothingness here. Some of the classrooms they pass by are lit from the inside, but Seonho refuses to enter any of them because of ‘ghosts and stuff.’ “But we should probably start—”

“I’m not scared,” Seonho interrupts, his voice squeaky. “I’m totally, 100% not afraid of anything—FUCK.”

“You’re yelling in my _ear_ ,” Guanlin says, exasperated. Seonho’s fingers dig into his back. He peers into the darkness and finds nothing. What is Seonho freaked out about?

“I SAW SOMETHING.”

“I didn’t! I don’t even know where I’m going.”

“Don’t go _that_ way!”

“Then where—” Guanlin rounds the corner and breaks off, frozen. In front of the gym lies the prone body of… something. As he watches, the _thing_ slowly raises its head, eyes flashing red. Guanlin holds his breath.

The thing tilts his head, then bares its teeth and launches itself at them on all fours.

“Oh shit,” Guanlin breathes, tripping over his feet. _“OH SHIT SEONHO RUN.”_

“What is—AH FUCK FUCK FUCK—” Seonho slams his shoulder against a closed door and scrambles to turn the knob. It opens with a bang. He drags Guanlin inside and the two work to close it behind them, sagging against the wall when they hear the successful _click!_ of the lock.

His adrenaline is definitely pumping. Guanlin closes his eyes and sucks in a ragged breath.

“So much for bargain brand ghosts,” Seonho pipes up beside him. Guanlin’s eyes fly open. He turns his head to meet Seonho’s gaze and they both break into nervous chuckles.

“I’m never underestimating Daehwi again,” he says thickly. Seonho nods in full agreement. Their student council president put some serious work into this. A freakish amount of work. A ‘what goes on in that boy’s mind’ amount of work.

“How many more of those are out there, you think?” Seonho asks finally.

Guanlin frowns. “A lot?” There's tons of rooms here… a lot of square feet to cover. “We have three whole floors to get through.”

“Can we just—Guanlinthere’ssomethingbehindyou.”

He feels a gust of warm air on his neck. Guanlin is scared to look over his shoulder. “What’sbehindmeisitaghost.”

_“Yes.”_

Fumbling with the door, Guanlin bursts into the hallway, reaching behind him for Seonho’s hand. He catches a brief glimpse of a white face and stringy black hair and long nails reaching for his neck before yelping. Seonho whacks the hands away and takes off, tugging Guanlin along.

They almost slam into a red mask wearing demon who cackles at the sight of two fresh victims. Seonho trips and falls face-first right in front of him. Guanlin has to drag him away by the arms as he screams at the top of his lungs. He’s still screaming when Guanlin finds the stairs and proceeds to drag Seonho up them, ignoring his pained cries about his _precious butt!!_ while the demon continues cackling loudly somewhere on the floor.

This is stressful.

 

 —

 

By the time they reach the second floor, Guanlin’s lungs are burning.

They have twenty minutes left in this hellish place.

At this point, Guanlin is sure they've forgotten about the school scarf and the prize; they're just focused on getting out of here alive. Maybe that's overdramatic, but he's pretty damn sure that being here is hazardous for their health in one way or another.

It's quiet on this floor, with no sound except their ragged breathing. That in itself is scary. Guanlin rubs his chest and glances down at Seonho, who lies in a heap at the top of the stairs. “I just lost three years of my life,” he says, unprompted, as Guanlin pulls him to his feet. “I want to go home.”

“Dude.” Guanlin can’t argue; he too would like to go home. “Maybe if you try not to _fall_ next time—”

Seonho lets out a squawking noise. “I tripped! On a fake brain!”

“There was no fake brain on the floor?” Not that Guanlin can remember, anyway. And his memory is pretty reliable.

“Look—”

A low, mournful wail fills the corridor and sends a shiver down Guanlin’s spine. “We should get out of here before whatever that is comes for us.”

Seonho offers no argument.

They decide to at least attempt to look for the school flag. Seonho holds Guanlin’s hand in a death grip (after whining that it only took one (1) ghost for Guanlin to break his promise) as they go from room to room.

Some are better than others; the the door to the art room, for example, is one they don't even open once they catch a glimpse of a dark haired student dragging her nails down a canvas inside, ripping it to shreds. The music room they do go into, then immediately run out of when the piano begins to play itself. The dance room is something they vow to never talk about, but Guanlin and Seonho agree that they are _never_ going to look at ballerinas the same way again.

Eventually, they end up in their homeroom, figuring it’ll be safe enough from the (fake) ghosts around. Guanlin locks the door behind them while Seonho plops down at his desk. Leaning back in his chair, he says, “Finally, a chance to breathe.” His hair is plastered in damp clumps across his forehead from all the running around.

Guanlin feels tired as well; his shirt is sticking to his back and his knuckles are bloody from when he banged them against the wall while running away from a ghost. He rolls his sleeves up to his elbows and takes a seat across from Seonho. “Next time you want meat,” he starts, resting his arms on the back of the chair, “ _Please_ just ask me to buy it for you.”

Seonho’s eyes widen. “H-Hyung…” he gasps, clutching his chest. “You want to give me meat? I’m going to faint.”

Guanlin ignores his dramatics. “ _Please._ ”

Seonho snickers and drops his hands back down. They sit in silence for a while (as silent as it can get aside from the periodic wailing) until Seonho stretches his legs out. “I just wanted to do something special with you too,” he says. “More special than just going out for pork belly or noodles after school.”

 _Special,_ huh? His cheeks grow warm. “It's a scary kind of special though. Not sure I like it.”

Seonho shrugs sheepishly. “I didn't think it through.” He rests his arms on the desk. “And I figured I had to make it obvious I was asking you out somehow since _you_ weren’t going to do it.”

“ _Hey_ ,” Guanlin says, without any heat. Seonho’s right, he probably wouldn’t have. They’ve been toeing the line between ‘best friends’ and something else for long, long time. Guanlin keeps wanting to take a step forward, but he’s afraid to at the same time. More afraid of this than the haunted house, to be honest.

“Don't you ever want to do something…?” Seonho continues. “Not as friends, but—”

“Yeah,” Guanlin says, a slow smile spreading across his face. Well, maybe he doesn’t need to be scared of anything (except the creepy ghosts lurking around). “Thank you for inviting me here.”

“Don't get all formal on me!”

He laughs. It feels odd, like he hasn't done so in ages even though it hasn't been that long since they entered the school and had all the joy sucked out of them. Some of the tension eases from his shoulders and back. Guanlin means it though. Sure, this is all kinds of awful, but he's spending time with Seonho and that counts for something. Besides, scared and clingy Seonho is sort of cute.

Seonho grins at him. “You know, I—” He breaks off suddenly, his face going white. “Something just touched my leg.”

“There's no one else here.”

“Something touched my leg, _I swear._ ” Seonho lowers his voice. “Check under my desk.”

“Why do I have to check under your desk?” He’s now sure than Seonho would get him killed in a horror movie.

“ _Because._ ”

Sighing, Guanlin does as Seonho says. He peeks under the desk and is met with two brown eyes shining too bright in the darkness. The woman under the desk brings a finger to her lips before letting her fingers brush over Seonho’s ankles again, who cries out and pulls his legs up.

Guanlin straightens up slowly. “Uh, Seonho, don't freak out.” He sucks in a breath. “Don't move and don't freak out but there _is_ someone under your desk.”

A long pause stretches out. He can hear three people breathing.

“Guanlin?” Seonho says eventually.

“Yeah?”

“I’m going to freak out.”

“Okay.”

He doesn't remember how they get out of there. It involves some chair flipping and Seonho running out of the room. Guanlin apologizes to the ghost in case she got hurt before following Seonho out into the hallway. “Don't run away without me,” he calls out. Tries to, anyway, but Seonho takes one look at him and scampers up the steps to the third floor without another word.

Guanlin turns around with some trepidation. Behind him at the other end of the hallway is a woman with a cart. Shrieking hideously, she rushes at Guanlin at full speed, hair flying behind her like an awful whirlwind.

This time, _he’s_ the one who trips up the stairs in his hurry to get away.

 

 —

 

Somewhere between the second and third floor, Seonho disappears.

Guanlin thought he was up ahead in their mad scramble up the stairs, but when he reaches the top and looks around, Seonho is _gone_. There’s no trace of him except his phone lying facedown on the ground. Guanlin pockets it and bends over, his hands on his knees, and tries to catch his breath. “Seonho?”

Nothing. No response, not even a scream. “Seonho?” he tries again.

 _Crap._ Is he playing a joke on Guanlin or something? But this isn’t the time or place—and he doesn’t think Seonho would even have the presence of mind to try and prank Guanlin right now. As freaky as Guanlin finds all this, it’s ten times worse for Seonho, who still closes his eyes during the frightening parts of horror movies.

“Seonho….?”

His voice gets lost in the sudden onslaught of groaning and shuffling. Gualin whips around and comes face to face with a slow moving horde of… undead zombies, their arms outstretched. There are enough of them that they could probably bulldoze right over him if he doesn’t get out of their way. The one at the front looks gruesome but familiar. “Jinyoung hyung?” Guanlin ventures. He has to applaud whoever did the costuming; those entrails spilling out of Jinyoung’s stomach look pretty realistic.

The zombie stops. “Man,” he says, frowning. “Do I need to get my makeup redone again?”

“ _Jinyoung hyung_ ,” Guanlin repeats, relieved. Dimly, he registers that he should be afraid, but his worry over Seonho’s whereabouts eclipses his fear. “Have you seen Seonho? I lost him somewhere.”

“Seonho?” Jinyoung scratches his cheek. Bits of skin—or makeup—peels off and floats to the floor. “No. Sorry. He’ll probably scream sometime soon though; it’s bad up here.”

“Yeah, but I don’t want him to have to scream _alone_.” He promised he’d hold Seonho’s hand in here. Frankly, Guanlin has done a pretty shitty job of it so far, but he plans on fixing that.

Zombiefied Jinyoung smiles. It looks unnatural, stiff grey skin forced into an unusual expression. “You guys are cute.”

“W—What?” That came out of left field.

Jinyoung’s smile deepens. “Don’t worry about it!” he says, waving his arms in front of him.

“Sure?” He doesn’t know what that is supposed to mean, but—

As Jinyoung predicted, a faint scream reaches their ears that sounds a lot like Seonho’s. Guanlin takes off in that direction, giving Jinyoung a quick wave and an apology for leaving so abruptly. He waves Guanlin off with something that sounds like _go get your man!_ but he reverted back into his zombie character, so it could’ve been _brains_ too.

Guanlin finds Seonho surrounded by three figures that can best be described as nightmare fuel: They have him penned in with his back against the wall, hands covering his eyes. He’s shaking, flinching every time one of them gets too close and screeches in amusement.

As Guanlin approaches, one of them snaps their neck around and grins menacingly at him. Its eyes are white and bloody, teeth filed to sharp points. With jerky movements, it approaches Guanlin, who grits his teeth and sidesteps it. He ignores the demon too and shoulders past the clown to grab Seonho’s hand and tug him out of the semi-circle. The three continue to hound them, but Guanlin pulls Seonho along firmly, not paying any attention to them.

He stops once they reach a small alcove—it seems safe for now, though Guanlin’s keeping an eye out. But for now… “Hey,” he says, putting his hands on Seonho’s shoulders. “Are you okay? What happened? Where did you go? Did anyone—”

“I’m fine,” Seonho cuts in. He pulls back and drops into a stance that Guanlin thinks is supposed to be vaguely martial arts-ish. Taekwondo, maybe. “I was just about to kick their asses, _hai-ya!_ ” He makes a chopping motion downwards and kicks up, almost hitting Guanlin in the shin.

“You looked like you were gonna—” Guanlin breaks off and shakes his head. “Nevermind. I’m just—I’m really sorry I let go of you. I shouldn’t have.”

“You came for me though.” Seonho looks down. “I mean, you charged in there like a… like an _idiot_.” He glances back up and grins. “But also like a knight in shining armour or something.” Seonho bats his eyelashes at him. “My _herooooooo_.”

Guanlin raises an eyebrow. “Doesn’t that make you a damsel in distress?”

Seonho shrugs. “I’d make a pretty decent princess.”

“But I had to,” Guanlin adds bashfully, rubbing his nose. “I couldn't leave you to be eaten by ghosts on our first date.”

“That’s sweet; you _do_ care.”

“It’s kinda my job to protect you.”

“Wha—hey, it is _not_.” Seonho does a couple more karate chops. “I can take care of myself too. I have a green belt!”

Guanlin tries not to laugh. “In what?”

Seonho blinks owlishly. “In my closet, what do you mean?”

Guanlin stares at him, then loses the fight and bursts into laughter. Considering the circumstances, it’s weird. Even the axe murderer approaching them stops and turns around to head in a different direction. “Well, just let me protect you for now,” he says once he’s calm. “We still have five minutes left in here.”

“Oh, right,” Seonho grins. “I’m going to use you as human sacrifice for all the demons.”

“You guys…” Jinyoung pops his head out of one of the classrooms, still in full zombie make up. “You know this is just a haunted house, right? We’re all acting? None of this is real.”

“Yeah,” Seonho says quickly. “And also, get the _fuck_ away from me you evil undead brain sucking—”

“Okay,” Guanlin interrupts, grabbing Seonho’s hand and tugging him towards the stairs. “We’re leaving.”

Jinyoung waves.

 

 —

 

They emerge from the school one minute before their allotted thirty minutes are up, but Guanlin doesn’t think anyone is really keeping track. Except maybe Daehwi, who waves at them from the tickets table. Guanlin is tired and wants to just collapse on the grass, but Seonho drags him over to Daehwi, their hands still intertwined.

“So,” Daehwi asks. “Did you find any scraps of the school flag?”

“Nope,” Seonho says cheerfully, swinging his arms. Daehwi’s eyes narrow in confusion, and he continues. “It’s okay; Guanlin promised to buy me meat instead.”

“When did I,” Guanlin says. He mentioned something but it wasn’t a _promise_ or anything.

Seonho beckons Daehwi closer. “It’s a date,” he says conspiratorially.

Daehwi glances down at their hands, then looks back up, eyes sparkling. “Ooooooh, nice going! I guess the haunted house is good for more than just scares, huh?”

Guanlin covers his face with his free hand. “Stop.”

“He’s a knight in shining—”

“ _Stop!_ ”

“Guanlin’s blushing, oh my god,” Daehwi snickers.

He closes his eyes and pulls Seonho away. “I hate you all,” he mutters. Seonho laughs and Guanlin amends, “Except Seonho.”

“That’s right,” Seonho says triumphantly. “Guanlin loves me. He would fight a zombie for me if we were in a horror movie. Whack it with his long arms and everything.”

“Please don’t make me sound like a weedwhacker.”

“My hero,” Seonho says again, fake-swooning. Guanlin catches him in his arms and squeezes tight.

Sure, he thinks. Seonho’s hero. Why not?

**Author's Note:**

> for the following prompt from my cc: _cube chicks take on a haunted house._ halloween isn't till tomorrow for me, but it's my birthday today so i figured, why not? i tried to base their romp through the haunted house on the legendary [ghost prank](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JepMQS8U4QY) from pd101. good times. 
> 
> thank you for reading, and happy halloween! ❤


End file.
